The announced in 2006, core architecture , marked the beginning of new high performance desktop and mobile systems. Processors on base Of core combined the superiority on performance over NetBurst architecture , low energy consumption ( low heat emission ) and overclocking potential. The architecture core helped Intel company to avoid the economic problems, connected with relative unpopularity of NetBurst processors . During the last two years Intel consecutively enlarged the possibilities of core architecture , released new revisions, and recently transferred the release of processors to the 45nm technical process. In 2007 Intel stated about the announcement of nehalem architecture ( processors core i7), built on base Of core with a number of cardinal update :

The memory controller was transferred from the north bridge (motherboard) directly in the processor itself

support 3- X (triple) channel operation mode

in contrast to Kentsfield/yorkfield, which consist on two crystals with 2 core each, all 4 core Bloomfield are located on one crystal

At the given moment, the presented core i7 consists on three 4- core processors: 920, 940 and 965 Extreme edition.

Core i7 965Extreme edition

Core i7 940

Core i7 920

Socket

LGA 1366

Technical process

45 nm

Quantity of core/threads

4/8

Frequency

3.20 GHz

2.93 GHz

2.66 GHz

Multiplier

x 24.0

x 22.0

x 20.0

QPI

1 x 6.4 GT/s

1 x 4.8 GT/s

1 x 4.8 GT/s

Cache

4 x 256 KB L2/8Mb L3

Supported memory type

DDR 3-800/1066/1333/1600

DDR 3-800/1066

DDR 3-800/1066

TDP, in watt

130

Price in parties from 1000 pieces

$999

$562

$284

And here finally we have some pre-series models processors core i7.

Thus, before us the elder and the low-end Core i7 representatives , Core i7 965 Extreme and core i7 920.

The new processor Core i7 is different from Intel core .

The integration of memory controller in the processor core, increased the crystal size , grew in the number of pins , in consequence the CPU surface increased from 38x38 to 42x45 mm.

Core I7 920 Cooler :

Since Core i7 920 is more interesting for most user due to its price (let us recall it will cost $284(wholesale) vs 562$ and 999$ ) we decided to focus mainly on this processor .

Here is the default cooler for this model (Core i7 920).

The new cooler has a larger size and bigger fan in comparison with LGA 775 .

Note the cooling of 775 processor will not be compatible with 1366 socket .

Core I7 920 in details :

But here thermalright company already propose for its most popular cooler a fasting in order to use the old cooler with 1366 socket . The model thermalright ultra-120 eXtreme will be used in out test .

After installing this processor on the motherboard Intel DX58SO on base of x58 chipset , CPU-z will reflect the following information:

Our processor is based on the early stepping C0. Series models will have a newer stepping and correspondingly, possess lower VID (standard voltage), and also, they can be characterized by higher overclocking potential…

Core I7 920 operating temperature :

According to the utility CoreTemp version 0.99, the processor temperature with the regular box Intel cooler , varies in the region 35-40 degrees . Under load (using OCCT utility version 2.0.0 ) the temperature rose to 55-60 degrees .

Core I7 920 overclocking :

The default voltage for this processor is 1.2V (1.16 with full load) , in this case the processor was stable at the frequency 3000 MHz (@ default voltage), but @3100Mhz it immediately crashed under OCCT test. After raising the core voltage to 1.3V it was possible to pass OCCT test at the frequency 3200 MHz . In this case 1.4V gave a stable 3400Mhz. The tendency is clear. We decided to give this processor 1.5V ( :-) , note it is not recommended to use 1.5v ), but @ 3600 MHz the system could not even POST. As it was explained later, the reason for the observed limitation is due to the QPI bus , in other words, The max stable QPI bus is 175 MHz (motherboard limitation ); therefore the processor overclock was limited to 3500MHz.

This result is modest taking in account the 45nm (4 GHz and above is typical ) and the relatively high voltage ( vcore ) simply does not impress.

Now let us say a few words about the memory : The memory frequency as before relay on (multiplier and QPI frequency) ; however, in our case only two multiplier are available : x3 and x4 , correspondingly to the maximum memory frequency 700Mhz , which is very small for DDR3. Therefore, memory timing were lowered to the smallest possible, 6-5-5-15. In this case the memory voltage was 1.74V (Note Intel recommend to not go over 1.65 v for the memory).

Core I7 920 vs Core architecture :

For comparison we used some popular four core processor : Intel Q6600 and Q9450, based on 65nm and 45nm technical processes.

Here is the list of used computer hardware:

Socket 1366:

Intel core i7 920 (Engineering sample) Bloomfield C0

Intel DX58SO (Engineering sample, Bios 2260 )

Socket 775:

Intel core2 quad q6600, Kentsfield G0

Intel core2 quad q9450, Yorkfield E0

ASUS P5W64-WS evo (Intel x48, Bios 0601)

2x1Gb Kingston KHX14400D3/K2 (DDR 3-1800 CL8, micron D9GTR chips )

1x1Gb OCZ3P16002GK platinum (DDR 3-1600 CL7, micron D9GTR chips )

XFX 8600GT XXX edition

Intel SSDSA2MH080G1GN (80Gb SSD)

Chieftec CFT-750-14CS (750W)

No case :-)

Software:

Microsoft Windows XP service pack 2

Intel INF drivers version 9.1.0.1007

nVidia forceWare version 169.21

Futuremark 3DMark06 version 1.1.0

CineBench r10 version

CPUmark99

Everest version 4.60.1500

Fritz chess benchmark

NucleaRUS version 2.0.0

ScienceMark version 2.0.0

SuperPi version 1.5

TechArp x264 HD version 0.59.819M

WinRAR version 3.71

wPrime version 1.55

Dual vs Triple-channel memory operation modes :

First we decided to answer the question about the real advantages from the three(triple)-channel regime vs two(dual)-channel.

In practice there is no noticeable difference between dual and triple-channel memory operation modes . In the majority of tests the advantage or loss is reduced to a error of measurement, AND the advantage was seen only in some rare case . Later we will check if this advantage is so small due to the sufficiently low processor frequency .

Core i7 920 processor performance at default speed :

Let us examine the processor performance at default speed

Due to HT technology (Hyper-Threading) the advantage Of core i7 920 in multi-threaded tests reaches almost 100%, which greatly impresses.

Core i7 920 processor overclocked performance :

Since our Q6600 refused to overclock over 3.2 GHz we used in this test the Q9450 overclocked to 3.6 GHz and The i920 at 3.5 GHz .

It is clear that Core i7 920 could hold its advantage over Q9450 almost in all tests.

The average performance increase composed 30% which is already good.

Core i7 965 Extreme edition overclocking :

As we said above the overclock of our Core i7 920 was limited by the motherboard QIP bus , We decided to use in this case the extreme version which come with free multiplier. With air cooling, our copy overclocked to 3.8 GHz only , this is relatively modest for $1000 processors. At this frequency it was possible to pass SuperPi 32M, in 9 minutes 20 seconds.

Since our extreme processor proved to be a poor overclocker we decided to start another review with a new copy (to be published later) . But even with the low CPU overclock speed we set a records in the memory information exchange , which composed 21269MB/s and 21.1ns .

The maximum screen shot stable frequency was 4034MHz with 1.55V. Again the overclock of processor is a pure lottery, this is a matter of luck .

A few words a conclusion about Core i7 :

First, we give confirmation about the memory performance, that the difference between two and three- channel operation modes is low even at high CPU frequencies , and the memory latency is better (lower) in the dual-channel regime.

Core i7 does not love excessively high memory capacity . We can reach the frequencies 920-930Mhz with 6-6-5-15, but, absolutely all tests showed a performance loss relative to the same frequency with 7-7-7-16 or 8-7-6-18.

Now let us say a few words about the Intel memory voltage limit equal to : 1.65 v . In practice a constant use of memory with 2.2-2.3V have not influenced at all the overclocking potential/stability (Note we deal here with few days test , the time required to write this review , So some defect may appear for longer operation , but in our case 2.2-2.3 v was pretty safe).

Since the memory controller is build in the processor, the memory overclock depends now also on the processor temperature .

As conclusion, I can say only that core i7 is a new step in the development of desktop processors. Yes, the overclocking potential is low currently , but this may be fixed with time or luck . The use of HT technology and built-in memory controller considerably improved the performance in comparison with previous families processors.

Now this is a question of price since user have to pay not only for the processors. and motherboard Socket 1366 but also for the DDR3 memory ..

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